![MIDSUMMER-MECHANICALS-SMALL](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/MIDSUMMER-MECHANICALS-SMALL.jpg)
Francis Flute is a character in
William Shakespeare's
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
''
A Midsummer Night's Dream''. His occupation is a
bellows
A bellows or pair of bellows is a device constructed to furnish a strong blast of air. The simplest type consists of a flexible bag comprising a pair of rigid boards with handles joined by flexible leather sides enclosing an approximately airtig ...
-mender. He is forced to play the female role of Thisbe in "
Pyramus and Thisbe
Pyramus and Thisbe are a pair of ill-fated lovers whose story forms part of Ovid's ''Metamorphoses''. The story has since been retold by many authors.
Pyramus and Thisbe are two lovers in the city of Babylon who occupy connected houses. Their r ...
", a
play-within-the-play which is performed for
Theseus
Theseus (, ; grc-gre, Θησεύς ) was the mythical king and founder-hero of Athens. The myths surrounding Theseus his journeys, exploits, and friends have provided material for fiction throughout the ages.
Theseus is sometimes describ ...
' marriage celebration.
In the play Flute (Thisbe) speaks through the wall (played by
Tom Snout
Tom Snout is a character in William Shakespeare's '' A Midsummer Night's Dream''. He is a tinker, and one of the " mechanicals" of Athens, amateur players in ''Pyramus and Thisbe'', a play within the play.
In the play-within-a-play, Tom Snout pl ...
) to Pyramus (
Nick Bottom
Nick Bottom is a character in Shakespeare's ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' who provides comic relief throughout the play. A weaver by trade, he is famously known for getting his head transformed into that of a donkey by the elusive Puck. Bott ...
).
Flute is a young, excited actor who is disappointed when he finds he is meant to play a woman (Thisbe) in their interlude before the duke and the duchess. He generally is portrayed using a falsetto voice. He is an unsure actor who asks many questions.
Flute is often portrayed as the lowest in status of the Mechanicals, but his performance at the wedding of
Theseus
Theseus (, ; grc-gre, Θησεύς ) was the mythical king and founder-hero of Athens. The myths surrounding Theseus his journeys, exploits, and friends have provided material for fiction throughout the ages.
Theseus is sometimes describ ...
and
Hippolyta
In Classical Greek mythology, Hippolyta, or Hippolyte (; grc-gre, Ἱππολύτη ''Hippolytē'') was a daughter of Ares and Otrera, queen of the Amazons, and a sister of Antiope and Melanippe. She wore her father Ares' ''zoster'', the Gr ...
arguably wins them favour at the court of the duke and duchess.
Flute's name, like that of the other mechanicals, is
metonymical and derives from his craft: "Flute" references a
church organ
Carol Williams performing at the United States Military Academy West Point Cadet Chapel.">West_Point_Cadet_Chapel.html" ;"title="United States Military Academy West Point Cadet Chapel">United States Military Academy West Point Cadet Chapel.
...
, an instrument prominently featuring the
bellows
A bellows or pair of bellows is a device constructed to furnish a strong blast of air. The simplest type consists of a flexible bag comprising a pair of rigid boards with handles joined by flexible leather sides enclosing an approximately airtig ...
a bellows-mender might be called upon to repair.
In
Jean-Louis and
Jules Supervielle's French adaptation, ''
Le Songe d'une nuit d'été'' (1959), Flute is renamed to , where
Georges Neveux's 1945 adaptation used the English names.
On the Elizabethan stage, the role of Flute and the other
Mechanicals was intended to be doubled with
Titania's four fairy escorts: Moth (also spelled Mote), Mustardseed, Cobweb, and Peaseblossom.
References
Sources
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See also
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Mechanical (character)
The mechanicals are six characters in ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' who perform the play-within-a-play '' Pyramus and Thisbe''. They are a group of amateur and mostly incompetent actors from around Athens, looking to make names for themselves by ...
Fictional artisans
Fictional actors
Male Shakespearean characters
Characters in A Midsummer Night's Dream
Literary characters introduced in 1596
Fictional Greek people
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